What is Russia's air defense system really like?

Russia is a country that attaches great importance to air defense. From the Second World War to the Cold War, and then to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has always put the construction of air defense system in a very important position. Russia believes that without a reliable air defense system, a country cannot guarantee its own security or effectively use offensive weapons. A country must establish an effective air defence system and should make the development of fighter aviation and ground air defence forces a priority direction in the construction of its armed forces. In particular, several recent high-tech local wars and the development of the U.S. Army's doctrine of air attack operations have given Russia a strong shock. As a result, Russia has made a series of targeted adjustments to its own air defense system to make it more adaptable to the current Russian military strategy. This article mainly introduces the development status and development trend of Russian air defense system. First, from the "homeland defense air force" to "air defense group army" in the second world war, the German air force on the former Soviet Union city bombardment, so that many cities in the former Soviet Union razed to the ground. In order to solve the problem of air defense of Moscow and other important cities in the face of serious air threats, Stalin proposed that the air defense of Moscow should be carried out by unifying the use of anti-aircraft artillery units and fighter aircraft units, so as to implement an integrated air defense. Stalin signed an order on November 9, 1941 to set up the State Air Defense Committee of the USSR, which drew 40 fighter air regiments and anti-aircraft artillery units, searchlight units, ground-to-air surveillance post units, communication units, etc., and formed armies and divisions specialized in homeland air defense, which were responsible for the air defense of Moscow, Leningrad and other major cities as well as other important targets, and this greatly improved the efficiency of air defense. This greatly improved the efficiency of air defense operations. The practice of the war showed that the Luftwaffe did not pose much threat to Moscow, and very few German airplanes were able to fly into the city center of Moscow. According to the needs of the war, the Soviet Army also formed a number of air defense strategic battle corps - air defense aspects of the army, responsible for air defense operations over a wide area, for the other branches of the combat operations and the air security of the country's important targets to provide an effective cover. By the later stages of the war, the Territorial Air Defense Forces undertook aggressive offensive combat operations, providing concomitant forms of air cover for ground forces.In 1948, under the direct organization of Zhukov, a prominent Soviet military general, the Territorial Air Defense Forces were separated from the leadership of the Commander of the Artillery of the USSR Armed Forces, and an independent branch of the military dedicated to the country's air defense was established-the Territorial Air Defense Forces (TADF). -The Territorial Air Defense Force (TADF) was established as a separate military branch responsible for national air defense. The Territorial Air Defense Force was mainly equipped with anti-aircraft weapons such as fighter planes, anti-aircraft guns, radars and searchlights. After World War II, with the progress of science and technology, from 1952 onwards, the USSR Territorial Air Defense began to equip surface-to-air missiles of various ranges and purposes. Surface-to-air missile soldiers began to enter the war arena and developed rapidly, gradually replacing anti-aircraft artillery and becoming the main combatant of ground air defense. In addition, a large number of new radars equipped troops, in 1955, the Soviet Homeland Defense Air Force will be equipped with a large number of various types of radar ground-to-air surveillance forces, named radio technology (radar) soldiers. As a result of the extensive use of various electronic warfare equipment, the USSR Territorial Defense Air Force also established an important combat support service, the Electronic Countermeasures Corps. In 1967, the Missile-Space Defense Corps was established in the USSR's Territorial Defense Air Force to defend against threats from space. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to economic difficulties, Russia put forward a defensive military doctrine. 1998, formerly under the Land Defense Air Force Space Defense Force and the Strategic Rocket Forces merged, the Land Defense Air Force Air Defense Group Army and the front-line aviation under the theater of operations merged into the Air Defense Group Army, to exercise the dual functions of aviation fire support to the land forces in the theater of operations and the theater of operations of the Air Defense Group Army. After streamlining, the original 11 air defense groups were reorganized and adjusted to five air defense groups, which are responsible for the air defense of the Russian war zones. Second, the basic status quo of Russia's air defense system analyzed from the elements, Russia's air defense system consists of reconnaissance system, fighter air force cover system, ground-to-air missile cover system, air defense command automation system, electronic warfare system and security system composed of six major parts. Among them, the fighter air force and ground-to-air missile force are the two pillars of the air defense combat system. From the level of analysis, the air defense system components according to the combat mission, task combination, can be divided into strategic, battle, tactical three levels. (a) Air Defense Command System At present, the Russian Air Force*** has five air defense groups, including the 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, and 14th Air Defense Groups, which are deployed in the air defense territories of the five military districts of the North Caucasus, the Volga River Rim-Ural, Leningrad, the Far East, and Siberia, respectively. In addition, the 1st Air Defense Force is deployed in the separate Moscow Military District. The air defense groups deployed in the military districts are commanded by the General Staff through the military districts. In normal times, the military districts form air defense panels on the basis of air defense groups, which are an operational formation of air defense units of the armed forces' services under the command of the commander of the air defense group. It can command not only the forces belonging to the air defense group army within the air defense area, but also the air defense forces of other military services that are deployed within the area. The air defense area is geographically as close as possible to the operational areas of military districts and fleets (district fleets) and takes into account the deployment areas of the strategic missile group forces. The air defense area consists of the air defense territory, which is formed on the basis of the air defense forces and divisions within the formation of the air defense group forces. (ii) Formation and Main Equipment of Air Defense Group Army The Air Defense Group Army is an air force battle corps, and is the main body and main force in the implementation of air attack, support to ground forces and various types of air defense battles within the theater of operations. Its formation varies greatly according to the strategic direction and importance and the tasks it is responsible for. Generally, there are several air defense divisions or an air defense force, one or two mixed aviation divisions, or several bombing aviation, hard-hitting aviation, and front-line fighter aviation divisions. The air defense division (army) has 1 or 2 radio technology regiments (brigades), 3 or 4 surface-to-air missile regiments (brigades) and 2 or 3 fighter aviation regiments and an electronic countermeasures battalion. Fighter air regiments under the Air Defense Group are mainly equipped with Su-27, MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighter-interceptors, strike air regiments are equipped with Su-25 strikers, bombing air regiments are equipped with Su-24 tactical bombers, mixed air regiments are equipped with Su-24 tactical bombers, and the air defense groups are equipped with Su-24 tactical bombers. The Su-24 tactical bomber, mixed aviation regiment is divided into fighter-bomber regiment and fighter-bomber regiment; surface-to-air missile force is mainly equipped with C-300 series, C-400 surface-to-air missile system; radio technology soldier Mainly equipped with a variety of fixed and mobile alert radars, including meter-wave, decimeter-wave and centimeter-wave radars, most of which are advanced three-coordinate radars; electronic countermeasures soldiers are mainly equipped with a variety of specialized electronic countermeasures equipment, which is used to suppress and interfere with the enemy's airborne radar, to reduce the ability of the enemy to detect and attack ground targets, and to interfere with the enemy's airmen's ultrashort-wave communications, and to interfere with the enemy's close-range radio-navigation equipment. (c) Air defence command automation system The command automation system is the core element and nerve center of the Russian air defence system. Since its development began in the 1950s, the air defense command automation system has been developed into the third generation. The third-generation air defense command automation system takes high-speed parallel computers and intelligent combat software as its core, and can collect, analyze and transmit a large amount of intelligence information in real time with the support of communication systems such as wired, wireless and satellite, and automatically carry out auxiliary decision-making, and carry out manual intervention command and automatic control of combat weapons, so as to realize the system confrontation and network confrontation between the air defense system and air attack system and play a great role in improving the operational effectiveness of the air defense system. It plays a great role in improving the combat effectiveness of air defense system and greatly improves the survivability of air defense system. In addition, the command automation system has the function of training. Air defense command automation system corresponds to the air defense combat command system and weapons and equipment, and can be divided into four levels: strategic level, strategic-warfare level, tactical level and service tactical level. At present, Russian tactical-level command and automation systems are integrated with the weapon system and become the command and control unit of the weapon system. The strategic-tactical and tactical command automation systems are also compatible with and networked with the command automation systems of other military services. The integration and mutual substitution of air command and ground command have been realized. The air defense group is equipped with the "Prism" system, the air defense division with the "Multifaceted" system, the C-300 ground-to-air missile regiment with the 83M6Е system, the fighter regiment with the "Borders" system, the radar regiment with the "Border" system, and the airborne missile regiment with the "Border" system. "The Prism series is the newest addition to the Russian military's development program. The Prism series is the third generation of command automation systems developed and equipped by the Russian army, which is more powerful in terms of information and command functions, and is an extension and coarsening of the tactical level, which allows to master all information and command situations of each tactical command automation system, but pays more attention to the situation from the overall situation and focuses on the key points. "Multifaceted" system is a large number of the Russian army in use in the command automation system, it can simultaneously deal with 300 batches of airborne targets, information processing space for the radius of 3200 kilometers, the altitude of 100 kilometers, the target's maximum speed of 6,000 kilometers per hour, and therefore can deal with short and intermediate-range tactical ballistic missiles of intelligence information. It can receive intelligence from three radar brigades (regiments) simultaneously, exchange information with six friendly neighboring units (air defense division, Fighter Aircraft Division Army Air Defense Command Post, Civil Aviation Control Center, etc.), and command four Fighter Aircraft Regiments and 12 surface-to-air missile brigades. The ground-to-air missile regiment is equipped with the 83M6 E system for commanding C-300ПМУ ground-to-air missile systems. The system has an integrated design of radar command, control and communication, which, thanks to the addition of a high-performance three-coordinate radar, solves the problem of over-reliance on radio-technical (radar) soldiers for surface-to-air missiles in the past. Under special circumstances, it can also fight independently without other information sources. The Fighter Aviation Corps is equipped with the "Border" 5К54 command automation system, which is used to command fighter aircraft within a radius of 900 kilometers. The system is capable of receiving information from superiors, friendly neighbors, A-50 AWACS, automatic guidance (i.e., encrypted guidance messages are sent from the "Border" system to the autopilot system of Su-27 jets), and semi-automatic guidance with pilot control. Usually, the intercepting line of the fighter air force is outside the fire circle of surface-to-air missiles, but the guidance system can ensure that the fighter air force operates within the fire circle of surface-to-air missiles. The "National Border" system can work with surface-to-air missile forces to avoid accidental injury. Radio technology soldiers equipped with "base" series of command automation system, command capacity, realize the army network common, using wireless (microwave) two sets of communication. It is fully motorized and deployed separately from the radar system, with strong survivability. The automated command system of the electronic countermeasures soldier, codenamed АКУП-1, is the basic equipment of the electronic countermeasures battalion belonging to the air defense division for commanding the electronic countermeasures company and jamming station. The system is capable of jamming side-view radars, ground-attack fire-control radars, and low-altitude flight navigation and protection radars on enemy aircraft, and of covering ground targets (such as command posts, missile positions, airfields, and transportation hubs) within a range of 100 x 100 kilometers. An electronic countermeasures battalion can simultaneously jam 50 batches of air targets. Third, the development trend of Russia's air defense system In October 2003, Russian Defense Minister Ivanov announced for the first time the framework concept of the new "Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation". According to the new "Russian military doctrine" framework concept, the Russian Air Force will be in the combat ideology, the establishment of the system and weapons and equipment to speed up the pace of construction with a view to winning the future high-tech local wars. (a) Continuously enriching and improving the operational doctrine of "air and space integration" Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued the first regulatory document on the development of "air and space integration" for the Russian military in 1993, namely, "On the establishment of the organization of air defence of the Russian Federation", which for the first time proposed the establishment of a "Russian air and space defence organization", and the establishment of a "Russian air and space defence organization", which is the first of its kind. The concept of "Russian air and space defense" was first put forward. The document stipulates that the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force and Defense will be solely responsible for the formation of the "Russian air and space defense", the future "air and space defense", will be under the direct command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force and Defense. After the merger of the Russian military air defense, the establishment of "air and space integrated defense" of the heavy responsibility naturally fell on the shoulders of the commander-in-chief of the air force. In the 1990s since the outbreak of several local wars to summarize the lessons learned and learn from the United States and other armies "air and space as one" combat theory based on research results, the Russian army continues to develop, innovation and development, to give the "air and space as one" combat theory a new Connotation. It has transformed operational thinking. A qualitative change has taken place in the shape of war, which has evolved from the traditional combat operation that began with large-scale air strikes to one in which large-scale air and space strikes are an integral part of the operation. The Russian Air Force timely adjustment of its operational thinking, the simultaneous preparation to win the two wars against terrorism or at the same time ready to win the "air and space integrated defense" to start high-tech local wars as the Russian Air Force in the next period of time as the focus of the operation. Clearly defined new operational tasks. The Russian military believes that future local wars will be fought by the enemy's first use of dense ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to launch air and space offensive operations, therefore, the Russian military will fight the enemy's air and space weapons and equipment offensive heavy responsibility to the Russian Air Force. The new operational task of "countering the first enemy airborne attack with the Russian Air Force as the main body" was clarified. Operational principles were established. Adapting to the needs of future operations, the Russian Air Force established the operational principles of "active defense, deep strike, active attack, and coordinated operations". "Active defense" means actively mobilizing all forces and creating all favorable conditions to counter the attack of all-day precision-guided weapons. Deep Strike" means that once attacked by enemy air and space weapons and equipment, the Russian Air Force will first use strategic nuclear assault forces to carry out nuclear assaults on enemy strategic targets in the depths of the enemy, so as to mentally deter the enemy with a view to realizing the strategic intention of turning from a passive to an active role. "The Russian Air Force will send MiG-31 anti-aircraft fighter planes and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers to carry out pre-emptive strikes against enemy air and space weapons and equipment to seize the right to control information in space. The aim is to seize the right to control information in space. "The "coordinated operation" means that the Russian Air Force's C-300 and C-400 air defense missile systems will be used in conjunction with the MiG-31 and Su-27 air defense and fighter jets, with the active cooperation of the Space Missile Defense Forces and other military branches. "The C-300 and C-400 anti-aircraft missile systems of the Russian Air Force will actively cooperate with the MiG-31 and Su-27 anti-aircraft fighters to ****together fulfill the tasks of air and space defense operations. Created a new style of combat. In view of the future of local wars will first start from the air and space attack, the Russian army created "in the implementation of air and space defense and air and space attack, the focus of combat should be transferred from the air to space, to seize the right to control the air and space rights" of the new style of combat. (ii) Actively establishing an organizational structure adapted to integrated air and space operations in order to achieve the goal of "reasonable sufficiency". In order to adapt to the new military changes, implement the guidelines for the construction of the air force, and enhance its operational and readiness capabilities, the Russian Air Force will continue to take a series of measures, including adjustments to its organizational structure and the strengthening of its standing forces, with a view to achieving the goal of "reasonable sufficiency". In order to achieve this goal, the Russian Air Force will, starting in 2005, cut 36,000 personnel, including the disbanding of 13 aviation corps and a number of brigades. In the next decade, the Russian Air Force will focus on helicopter units, and will also restructure its strategic rocket forces after they are transferred to the Air Force. At the same time, Russia will increase the overall combat capability of the air force by increasing the number of key equipment, improving existing equipment and equipping it with new types of equipment, and in particular will strengthen its offensive combat capability. Improvement of "offensive and defensive" capabilities. After the merger of air defense, the Russian Air Force will be the original air defense group forces and front-line aviation merged into the air defense group forces, so that the air defense group forces in the original air defense based on offensive capabilities. The Russian Army believes that the Air Defense Group can use front-line aviation to reach offensive air defense because of its offensive strength. Of course, the front-line aviation is mainly equipped with Su-24 fighter-bombers and Su-25 fighter aircraft and other combat aircraft, does not have the ability to attack the enemy depth, but with the upgrading of the original weaponry, or equipped with Su-34 and fighter-bombers with aerial refueling capabilities and long-distance ground-attack weaponry, the ability of offensive air defense operations will be significantly increased. Further optimization of the chain of command. Beginning in 2005, the Russian Army began pilot work on a synthetic transformation of the military services. By the end of that year, the first phase of a pilot project to establish a Northwest Strategic Air Force and Air Defense Command in the Leningrad Military District had been completed.In March 2006, Russian Defense Minister Ivanov said that the establishment of a regional Strategic Air Force and Air Defense Command was a strategic necessity, and that the new structure would be more effective in commanding operations.The pilot project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, and the new structure is expected to be more effective in commanding operations. The pilot will end in 2007, and under the new reform plan, Russia will abolish the military districts, the General Command of the Air Force will be disbanded, and in 2008 the Air and Space Defense Command will be established. Continued integration of air defense forces across the military. After the consolidation of air defense, the Russian Air Force has recently begun to receive army air defense units from the military districts and include them in the air force sequence. The Russian Army believes that "the use of these air defense forces will be maximized, integrated operational capabilities will be enhanced, and command capabilities will be improved only if a unified command is implemented for all brigades and battalions with operational tasks." The merger of the Russian Army Air Defense Corps and the Air Force Air Defense Corps will unify the Russian Army's air and space defense systems, accelerating the implementation of the concept of "air and space defense. (c) Strengthening the improvement and development of weapons and equipment, and constantly upgrading the capability of integrated air and space combat The Russian Air Force's general concept of improving and developing weapons and equipment is to concentrate limited funds on the comprehensive use of advanced detection, precision guidance, information, stealth, automatic control, new materials and other high-tech, with a focus on the improvement and development of decisive new-generation combat aircraft, airborne weapons systems, air defense missile systems, radar and electronic warfare equipment, etc., to further improve weapons and equipment. electronic warfare equipment, etc., to further increase the high-tech content of weapons and equipment. The development of the Russian Air Force's weapons and equipment technology will always be in line with the world's most advanced weapons and will be at the forefront of key technological areas. Improving existing equipment and extending its service life. The Russian Air Force believes that modernization and upgrading of existing equipment has the advantages of low cost, short time and significant effect, etc. In the current situation of shortage of funds and difficulty in purchasing new equipment, it is an important measure for upgrading the level of equipment and prolonging its service life, and a direction for the development of the Russian Air Force's equipment in the future. Strengthening the development of new equipment and maintaining the leading position in equipment level. In order to maintain the long-term operational capability of the Russian Air Force, the Russian Air Force is also developing new types of aviation equipment while improving the existing equipment. Soon after the formation of the Russian Air Force, the Russian Air Force established the strategy of "reducing the number of models of aviation equipment and equipping them with multi-purpose aircraft", and concentrated its main efforts and financial resources on the development of advanced technology and equipment. In the "would rather reduce the number, but also to improve the quality, would rather temporarily less equipped or not equipped, but also to maintain the necessary level of research and development" under the guidance of the idea, over the years, the development of some key aviation technology and equipment has made progress, including the fifth generation of warplanes is a typical embodiment. According to reports, Russia is developing the fifth generation of fighter jets, is expected to first flight in 2007, 2010 years ago to complete the flight test and start batch production, in 2011 began to equip the troops. Fifth-generation fighter development project has been included in Russia's national weapons program for the period from 2006 to 2015. The aircraft will be single-engine and twin-engine, equipped with the same avionics system, thus forming a new high- and low-mixed model for the Russian Air Force. In addition, the Russian military has specific plans for strategic bombers, transport aircraft, drones, reconnaissance aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles and cruise missiles. However, the future development of the Russian Air Force is limited by a number of factors, the biggest of which is funding. If these problems are not effectively resolved, the future development program of the Russian air force can only stay in the planning.